Essential Cybersecurity Practices for Non-Profits

With an ever connected and globalized world, it is not surprising that cybersecurity attacks are on the rise. The repercussions of persistent cybersecurity attacks touch all types of organizations regardless of scale, from huge international companies to small local non-profits or charities. These organizations are heavily reliant on technology as forming the core backbone of their IT systems and infrastructure, as well as enabling the means of managing donations, communicating with supporters, tracking volunteer work. Cyber criminals have been pursuing infiltrating such institutions by utilizing both advanced and common techniques that might appear benign on the surface. Specifically, non-profit organizations that do not have adequate cybersecurity measures in place are at risk of attacks that expose private data, tarnish their image, and, in the long term, bring about legal and financial repercussions.

Start With Staff Awareness and Training

People are generally considered to be the weakest links in a cybersecurity attack. Non-profits are no different. In the digital world that is expanding very rapidly today, it is past time that people are aware of the looming cybersecurity risks affecting the organization. A traditional technique exploited by cybercriminals and hackers, for example, includes phishing emails, which may initially seem to be absolutely harmless, but can often be one of the primary ways through which a system gets infected. The objective of this kind of attack is to mislead users into disclosing their personal credentials.

As one of the first and highly actionable steps that can be taken by non-profits, often on a very limited budget, is to conduct regular cybersecurity training sessions for their employees, volunteers, and other key stakeholders. There are several free online resources that can be leveraged by such non-profits. The popular ones include Google’s Phishing Quiz or ISC2's "Safe and Secure Online" program to help staff identify malicious emails and websites.

Moreover, any additional personnel or volunteers as well as the board members of the non-profit organization should be included in the initial cybersecurity onboarding process of the company. Furthermore, it could also be an appealing way of ensuring that every one of them is acquainted with the organization's security policies.

Secure Email and Communications

Emails are often the most common entry points leveraged by cybercriminals to exploit non-profits. Phishing attacks can often appear as legitimate emails but can be maliciously designed with an intent to steal sensitive information. Such scenarios make it a pressing concern to secure email systems across the organization from such threats. 

A few of the methods that can be utilized to reduce the risk of such attacks are the use of a well-known email service providers, for example, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, that promote the inclusion of spam filtering and built-in phishing protection features.

Keep Systems Updated

Many attackers can exploit very specific software vulnerabilities in order to infiltrate systems. These attacks can be mitigated by patching and keeping all the systems up to date. It is often recommended to automate software updates wherever possible. They can be implemented across critical systems such as operating systems, antivirus software, and web content management systems (e.g., WordPress). Further, it is advisable to regularly check for software updates of the tools and platforms that underlie your non-profit IT infrastructure. These may include CRM systems, donation platforms, or any volunteer management software. Finally, running regular system scans is one of the effective ways to find vulnerabilities and act on them before they can be exploited.

Secure Remote Work and Volunteer Access

Post-COVID, most of the non-profits have been shifting to hybrid or remote work models. Ensuring the safe and secure access to organizational systems from remote/hybrid locations should be the prime concern of non-profits. Their employees or volunteers often need secure access to such systems. Here are a few tactics that must be implemented by non-profits to secure their networks:

• Offer staff and volunteers secure VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) and/or encrypted getaways, especially for those personnel who are working remotely.
• Promote the best practice using strong and unique passwords for every account and ensuring that staff members and volunteers do not share login credentials.

Encrypt Sensitive Data

Non-profit associations often deal with sensitive details like donors' records, medical data and reports (in some cases), as well as the personal information of the volunteers or the paramedic staff. Whenever such data is compromised, it may lead to a huge financial and reputational loss for the nonprofit organization and consequently, its key stakeholders. Some of the steps that one can take to avert such situations are the following: 

• Encrypting crucial information both during transit (while it is sent through the internet) and at rest (when it is kept on servers). Thus, if a hacker snoops one’s data, it will be unreadable without the required decryption keys.
• Cloud Solutions with built-in encryption features can be leveraged to protect donor and volunteer information.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is beyond a technical problem; it is a vital part of nonprofit operations. It not only safeguards the confidential data of non-profits but also reinforces the trust of donors, volunteers, and responders. Non-profit organizations can build a solid cybersecurity platform, prevent common threats, and safeguard their reputation even with a smaller budget and limited costs by applying the measures prescribed in this article. As long as nonprofits have laid down the appropriate measures to fortify their IT infrastructure and systems, they can carry out and focus on their core mission freely and securely.